:: Qing Qiu Fox Den ::
The Fox Express sipped the tea all the while studied the parchment in her hand. From the corner of her eye, she caught Mi Gu scurrying around the Den.
"Mi Gu." She called him over.
"Yes, Empress." He came instantly. "Do you wish for something?"
"Did you see Qian Qian? I can't find her since morning. Xiao Jiu too. Where are they now?" She finally lift up her head, looking at the tree spirit intently.
"Erm..." Mi Gu scratched the back of his head nervously. "Aunt accompanied her First Senior back to Kunlun Mountain. Small princess, she – she…. I don't really know where she is, Empress."
In fact, he had an inkling where she went but wisely chose to keep his mouth shut.
"That girl! She can't bother even her own wedding." The Fox Empress complained about her daughter's absence yet again. "What am I going to do with her, Mi Gu? She was gone every time I want to discuss things with her."
Mi Gu merely kept his head down, hoping her irritation would abate soon enough.
"Mi Gu, is Fourth around? Or did he leave with Zhe Yan again?" She asked him, in a sharp voice, fully expected him to say yes.
Mi Gu face lit up. "High God Bai Zhen is in his room, Empress. Should I call for him?"
"Yes, please." She nodded, satisfied, at least one of her children remained home. It took a while before her son arrived.
"Mother," he sat on the table beside her, reached for the kettle then filled both of their cups with tea. "Did you send for me?"
"Zhen Zhen, would you be a dear and help your mother out? Fifth had gone back to Kunlun Mountain this morning. Please fetch her and bring her back here. Tell her I have something important to discuss with her. It won't take her too long, then she could go back to her beloved Master." She sounded a bit miffed.
With all preparation going on in full swing, she hardly spent time with her youngest anymore. She sighed, she had a thought to have that talk with her daughter before she left for Kunlun Mountain again. She could not quite put her finger on anything specific. There was something different about her, called it a mother's instinct.
"Mother, don't tell me, you are jealous of High God Mo Yuan?" Bai Zhen chuckled at his mother's cross looks.
"Ouch, ouch. I'm only jesting. Don't take it out on me." He exclaimed when her sharp claws pinched his arm mercilessly.
"I'm going. I'm going now." He got up, crushing his abused limb tightly to his chest and back away from her quickly.
The Fox Empress shook her head at the son's dramatic departure and laughed softly. She did not really blame Qian Qian for wanting to get back to her lover. They had been separated for too long; it was only natural she wanted to spend every moment with him. Why wouldn't she understand, she too was young once. And lovers they were indeed; the intimate little touches and kisses they shared when they thought no one was looking betrayed them. She snickered.
:: At Roushui River ::
When Si Yin suggested they should investigate what was really happening at Ruoshui River, Die Feng didn't anticipated a malicious machination to bring about an absolute destruction of all realms was already set in motion.
As they approached the Bell of Eastern Emperor resting in the middle of the river, the heavily saturated Ghosts energy in the air made the fine hair on his neck stood up with apprehension. A premonition went through him as he came to see what type of situation they was going on.
On the far side of the river, within the Ghost's territories, men - no, combatants, from the looks of their outfits - were being brutally massacred. One minute they were full of flesh and blood; the next their bodies were being sucked dried and withered away. Even their bones were reduced to nothing but ashes and scattered in the wind. Judging from the shredded armors already strewing across the forsaken ground, at one time there were hundreds, if not thousands, of them.
Fractions of Celestial's defense force stationed at the river were attacking and bringing down the Ghost's force shield bit by bit; the rest forming a tight circle and fending off Ghost's fighters. Bai Qian came to an abrupt stop when she caught sight of what they were trying to protect. A silver-haired male sitting on the ground with someone in his lap.
Her breath hitched, hoping with all she had that person was not her niece, still she did not see Xiao Jiu in the Den since morning. In the blink of an eye, before she could ascertain that was whom she thought, they was hidden from her sight by the melee.
"What the devil is going on here?" Die Feng exclaimed when he had a good chance to take in the horrendous scene before him.
She blinked, her senior's voice claimed her attention once more.
"Their life force are being sucked off." Bai Qian approached and came to stand by him. "Look at where they stood, senior." She pointed out the runes within intricate patterns of triangles and circles, it covered a good portion of the open area next to riverbank on the far side.
"Someone drew enchanted circles, lured them in and trapped them inside. They must figure out a way to siphon all harvested energy and redirect it. My guess is that, to strengthen Qing Cang's own. Although it will not be nearly enough, nor on par with Li Jing's or Li Yuan's spiritual power, it might give Qing Cang the boost he needed to break apart the restraining spell."
They watched on as the screams of dying men in pure agony died down. So it had begun, just as she feared. A cold shiver run down her back.
How could this possibly happen? A blood sacrifice of this magnitude was clearly premeditated. Why no one was alerted of this plotting and scheming? Why the Celestial backup didn't come yet? Why was the delay? The sentry must have alerted the rest of the Celestial troops already. Didn't they know how perilous this situation was?
"Seventeenth?" Die Feng cautioned her as she stepped forward.
"Maybe I can try casting the restraining spell again. Hopefully, it will buy us some time," she explained and cautiously approached the Bell of Eastern Emperor. The revolting aura around it made her whole body tensed up. She held the Jade Purity fan of Kunlun tightly and called forth its power, just in case he tried to use underhand tactics again.
Qing Cang opened his eyes the moment he felt that particular spiritual essence coming closer. His menacing voice boomed from inside.
"Si Yin. Is that you? All these years, I have been waiting for you to come back. Where is your Master? Is he so afraid to face me now?"
She snorted quite unladylike. "Why bother my Master? Just the two of us is more than enough to handle you."
"Really? The last time you tried, I turned you into a mortal, didn't I? How did it end?" Qing Cang cackled sarcastically. "Was it a sad, painful? Or perhaps better off dead? Tell me, so I will make it far worse for you this time."
"Qing Cang, don't be so arrogant. I will make sure you stay locked up in there for all eternity!" She retorted hotly, too riled up with his cutting remark to notice the surprised glance her senior gave her.
"You are so full of yourself, Si Yin. Do you think you could suppress me again? You are as weak as a babe right now, I can tell." Qing Cang mocked her.
She simply tuned him off, concentrating on chanting the sealing incantation.
"The spell is useless, you are already too late. Hahahaha. Hahahaha. I am going to enjoy maiming you so slowly. Let Mo Yuan bear witness to your tragic final moment. After that, since I am feeling generous, I will send all of you, Master and disciples, to the realm of Nothingness together. You should thank me."
Qing Cang raised both of his arms above his head, harnessing, redirecting the extra power boost he just got to blast open the Bell of Eastern Emperor. Gigantic maelstrom of Ghost energy swirled dangerously both inside and outer side of the Device of Destruction. It built up and up and up, finally it snapped. A distinctive tearing sound was heard by all. Small breach became bigger, until the whole section of surface became unhinged.
The Bell groaned loudly under the onslaught attack, then came the sudden brightness too intense to look at. Those in the close vicinity had to raise a hand to shield their eyes. Bai Qian cried out when her sensitive eyes were exposed to the blinding light. In a flash, a thin white cloth appeared and covered her eyes from the light beams. It took her several seconds to regain her composure.
Just as Bai Qian had predicted, the secondary source of power gave the former Ghost Lord the power augmentation he needed. Qing Cang blew his way out of the Bell of Eastern Emperor. The already vulnerable metal yielded quickly, allowing Qing Cang to free himself from his eternal confinement and emerging once again into the world.
For the first time in over seventy thousands of years, he breathed in the fresh air. Qing Cang glanced around watching the gathering of Celestial men, his sworn enemies, with hatred and contempt. The time for vengeance had come.
Die Feng watched the Bell of Eastern Emperor warily, the convergence of power was reaching its height, making the Bell highly unstable. He pulled at his junior's elbow, drew her back from it for a good distance and pushed her behind him in a protective stance. Then he had a foresight to created a force field, protecting them both from the oncoming force of impending explosion.
After the bright light, strong burst of winds blew past them, hurdling and spraying pieces of broken metals outward. Some realized the danger too late to protect themselves, sharp metals embedded deeply into their flesh. Only a handful got away without suffering injuries.
The wind barely subsided when Qing Cang summoned the Double-Crescent Halberd into his hand and flew directly to where both Kunlun disciples stood. He shattered the protective shield in one sweeping down motion. Die Feng and Bai Qian leapt way to the side, narrowly avoided his blade.
Die Feng captured Si Yin eyes with his own and gave her an imperceptive nod. With eyes motions and hand signals, he silently conveyed his plan to attack to Si Yin. Twenty thousand years of going under the same tutelage gave her a clear insight into his thoughts.
Bai Qian immediately transformed her fan into a sword. With both swords raised, they began to circle Qing Cang and waited for the right moment to press attack. Suddenly, Die Feng lunged toward the former Ghost Lord. Qing Cang raised his own weapon to block him. He skillfully maneuvered Die Feng's sword and had it caught between cross blades. Qing Cang used the momentum to yank him closer within striking range.
Bai Qian immediately rushed from the sideline and engaged him; giving her senior a chance to retreat and prepare another attack. Qing Cang swat her sword away; he twisted his upper body and immediately turned his blade against her. Seeing she back away in time, he came at her again. His raised blade swung forcefully downward at her head.
Bai Qian lifted her blade up to counter the all-out attack; her sword arm shook with strain. She gritted her teeth, mustering up her strength and deflected the blow to the side. A thin trickle of blood emanated from the corner of her mouth and slowly trickled down. She took a few steps back, far enough from his combat range, biding time.
Above them, Die Feng flied high up and dived down at Qing Cang. Qing Cang didn't anticipate this move and belatedly thrust his blade up to stop him. Die Feng's blade plunged deep into his shoulder and scored a fatal wound. Qing Cang staggered back a few paces; then disappeared quickly.
The sky grew darker and lightning randomly flashed around them; effectively hiding him from their sights. Bai Qian stood back-to-back with her senior, both looked around cautiously, trying to locate from which direction Qing Cang would come.
Then Qing Cang rematerialized and stuck Die Feng unaware on his left side. They began to parry back and forth. Their attacks fierce and brutal; each trying to gain the upper hand. Die Feng gained ground on him at times, losing at others.
Though her senior was highly proficient in sword fighting, his two hundred thousand year worth of spiritual cultivation was also praised-worthy, he was still hard-pressed against a one-on-one fight with someone of Qing Cang's caliber.
Bai Qian watched both combatants fought anxiously. Her senior was forced backward again. She tried to find an opening but couldn't. They fought in close combat now; she dared not attack wildly, least she accidentally hurt her fellow disciple.
Die Feng thrust his blade forward aiming to inflict the open wound on Qing Cang's shoulder. Qing Cang saw through his move and feigned to the right, waiting until Die Feng's swung his blade at him again. He caught it between his crescent blades wrenching the weapon out of Die Feng's hand and gave him a long, deep slash across the chest.
Die Feng did not have enough time to regain his footing; an incoming blast of dark energy caught him off-guard. The impact propelled him backward; he skidded to a stop before falling through the sky. Bai Qian cried out seeing he was struck down. She rushed after him but was intercepted by her nemesis. She now became his next target.
Since the day she came back from Taichen Palace, Bai Qian had let the Jade Purity fan of Kunlun soaked up as much spiritual energy as it could. Aided by her own spiritual power, it now harnessed considerable power. Still she will have only a few chances to unleash its attack before it weaken her own.
She knew it was best not to rush her attack; all she need was an opening and a right moment to slip through his guard and made sure he would stay down. Unfortunately, her plan went awry as Qing Cang raised his sword; channeling the energy from lightning into him.
Bai Qian commanded as much spiritual power as she could spare and merged it with her blade, knowing this could be their decisive move. If she cannot hold on his attack or waited until her senior came back, she might be as good as dead.
Qing Cang pointed his blade at her, the dark energy swirling around its tip erupted outward in a formidable display of power. Bai Qian struggled to counter it with her own. Black and white energy clashed and sparked powerfully. Discharged energy pulsed in every direction; anything coming into contact was blown away. Some strayed attack spiraled toward the host of Celestial watching the fight from the ground.
Bai Qian was feeling light-headed, knowing full well she would not last against him much longer. Seeing she began to falter, Qing Cang unleashed another burst of his energy attack, and finally overpowered hers. The backlash hurled her a great distance through the air and landed her on her back.
Blood gushing out of her mouth as she struggled to get back up, only to find him already moving in on her. She rolled away escaping the killing swoop by a hairsbreadth. When he struck down again, she braced herself.
Then strange thing happened. A translucent pinkish force field raised on its own, shielding her from the blow. Bai Qian gazed at the magical shield, astonished.
"Mo Yuan." Qing Cang snarled, recognizing the energy signature infused with the force field instantly. "You are so protective of her, aren't you? Even the blessed Nuva Stone, you dare to gift her. Good. I will enjoy killing her even more now."
"Let's see how long you can hide behind that." He bared his pointed fangs at her, hell bent on bringing down her last protection.
Bai Qian panted softly, even the force field gave her a respite; the bite of his malicious power had weakened her considerably. Still she refused to cower before him, reaching out for her sword, she used it as a clutch to lift herself up.
Her eyes looked past Qing Cang's shoulder, narrowing to slits. A slow, wicked smile flashed across her face. "I need not to hide. Your days are already numbered, Qing Cang. If I were you, I will worry about the bigger threat at your back."
"Such bravado. You really think I will fall for your foolish trick, Si Yin?" He ridiculed her attempt to distract him. "I always know when a Celestial is at my back. Your senior is already incapacitated. He won't get back up so soon. Now, let us finish this."
His posture poised for attack; suddenly, intense pain bloomed in his chest. Qing Cang's eyes widened as he stared down unbelievingly at the large blade protruding from his heart. He made a gurgling sound in his throat, choking in his own blood.
"Maybe you should, you might live yet." Bai Qian smirked sardonically. She wipe the blood from her face. "And who said it is a Celestial?"
"I have been waiting to finish you off for years." The one behind him spoke up. The blade dig deeper into Qing Cang's soft flesh, inflicting more damages.
Qing Cang grunted in excruciating pain when the blade was viciously twisted around. He glanced over his shoulder and confirmed his suspicion. Rage and hatred swamped in his red-hazed eyes.
"Bas - Bastard!" He split the blood in his son's face. "I should have killed you a long time ago."
"Don't act like you are merciful, Father." Li Jing sneered. "You only keep us around to use as your own power vessel."
"You would kill your own father? Ungrateful bastard!" String of curses fell from his blood-splattered lips.
"Why not? You killed her, my mother!" He shouted. "You deserved to die a thousand times."
Qing Cang realized he did not have much time left, he was determined to drag the bastard son of his to hell with him. "Ha…You are always a loser, Li Jing"
He grabbed the tip of the sword that got stuck in his chest, yanked it into him to the hilt, effectively robbed it out of Li Jing's hand. Then he twirled around, struck the Crescent Moon between Li Jing's neck and shoulder blade and dragged it across his body. "Die, bastard. Die."
Li Jing's hands clutched his throat, blood spurted forth like a fountain. His hateful eyes still trained on Qing Cang's face as he staggered back and fell down.
Qing Cang didn't fare any better than him. More fresh blood poured out of his chest. His leg gave out; the whole body lurched forward, descending through the sky. The impact of his fall caused a deep and smoking crater on the ground.
Bai Qian flew down and went to see her senior first. Luckily Celestial guards had caught him mid-air and lent him aid, else he might suffer even more injury from the fall. She check out his slash wound; the cut was extensive but not life threatening. She sighed in relief.
"You think you won? When I'm gone," Qing Cang lift his head up; he smiled a chilly, crooked smile, "every single one of you will follow me. Hahaha." A maniac laugh left him panting heavily.
Bai Qian's brows furrowed when she heard his threat. He was dying. What else he planned?
Clang.
The blood in her veins freeze at the familiar sound that haunted her dreams for over thousands of years.
That sound!
She stood up staring in disbelief as the Bell of Eastern Emperor flew higher up and grew in size.
The Earth Deity guarding Roushui River stepped out of the protective circle, terrified that the Bell was reactivated. "What have you done to the Bell of Eastern Emperor?"
"Nothing much, I merely use this seventy thousands of years of isolation productively." He barked out gleefully. "The Bell is linked to my life-force. It reactivates the moment I'm dying. Soon the whole realms will burn with hell-fire. Everyone will join me in death. Isn't that beautiful?"
Qing Cang coughed up more blood and bled out all over the place. His limp body slumped to the side as he watched the Bell began to pull in its victims one by one.
"Burn, consume them all." He whispered with sadistic pleasure.
Bai Qian immediately understood what he had done. After all, they had chosen to do the same thing, connecting their lifeline with the weapon of choice. She glanced upward in despair, the Bell kept growing bigger and bigger. With every minute passing by, its power became more devastating.
Celestials and ghosts alike were sucked up into the Bell. The whole sky burned with crimson hell-fire. Ghost energy began to dissipate as Qing Cang's body disintegrated and turned into black dust.
She knew what had to be done. A spirit needed to be sacrificed before the whole realms fell into perils. Her parents, her brothers, her niece, her people. And him. All will be wiped out if she hesitated.
Even so, she will not just surrender her life just like that. Before the Bell could consume her whole spirit, she will give it a try to break down the Bell. Its continued existence would only come back to bite them later. Besides, Qing Cang's escape already inflicted serious damages to the Bell's integrity; far worse than the last time.
The goddess gathered up all of her waning spiritual cultivation and flew directly into the Bell. She had dreaded this moment all along but hoped with Qing Cang's demise, it might not come to this. It seemed she was mistaken once again.
She consoled herself, grateful for those blissful months she had with Mo Yuan. To finally have his love and be his wife, she should not have any regrets. Still, she grieved for the future that awaited them, for the children and grandchildren they would have one day.
Forgave me.
She silently begged for his forgiveness. Tears streamed down her face and blurred her eyes, she didn't want to leave him like this. How she longed to see his face for one last time.
Her blade struck into the Bell where extensive crisscross cracking could be seen. The Bell shook violently and gave out a little, still it endured. She yanked her sword off, looking to try again.
It was then she felt the magic of the Bell sweeping through her body, delving into her essence and seeking to destroy her spirit. Sooner than she thought, consuming agonizing pain came, she let out wordless screams. Her body convulsed, blood bled out of her nose and her mouth, everywhere; yet the pain never stopped.
In her fading consciousness, she thought: Was this how Mo Yuan felt back then? She was truly grateful he didn't have to endure it again.
It felt like an eternity had passed. Before she completely lost her awareness, she heard screams - screams for her - from afar.
Seventeenth, come back.
He was here.
He came.
Then she knew no more.
Note: Thank you so very much for your support for 'what you know', I'm sorry if some readers out there found it annoying. Let's put it behind us and move onto new chapters!
#bebepantheon : What do you mean by ".. something similar to what Mo Yuan had gone through..."?
#Weiss freya : she got ahead of them in the destroying part. And more cliffhanger!
#Guest : Since I started writing this story, I find out lots of people ship/are sympatized with MY/BQ. It comes as a surprise for me at first and really nice to know that.